A Nigerian woman tearfully prayed and recited Koranic verses as she won a beauty pageant exclusively for Muslim women in the Indonesian capital Wednesday, a riposte to the Miss World contest that has sparked hardline anger.

The 20 finalists, who were all required to wear headscarves, put on a glittering show for the final of Muslimah World, strolling up and down a catwalk in elaborately embroidered dresses and stilettos.

The finale of a beauty pageant exclusively for Muslim women was set to take place in the Indonesian capital on September 18, in a riposte to the Miss World contest in Bali that has drawn fierce opposition from Islamic radicals.

But the contestants from six countries were covered from head to foot, and as well as beauty they were judged on how well they recited Koranic verses and their views on Islam in the modern world.

After a show in front of an audience of mainly religious scholars and devout Muslims, a panel of judges picked Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola from Nigeria as the winner.

While the event in a Jakarta shopping mall paled in comparison to Miss World on the resort island of Bali, in which scores of contestants are competing, Ajibola was nevertheless overwhelmed.

Upon hearing her name, the 21-year-old knelt down and prayed, then wept as she recited a Koranic verse.

She said it was “thanks to almighty Allah” that she had won the contest. She received 25 million rupiah ($2,200) and trips to Mecca and India as prizes.

Ajibola told AFP before the final that the event “was not really about competition”.
“We’re just trying to show the world that Islam is beautiful,” she said.

Organisers said the pageant challenged the idea of beauty put forward by the British-run Miss World pageant, and also showed that opposition to the event could be expressed non-violently.

Eka Shanti, who founded the pageant three years ago after losing her job as a TV news anchor for refusing to remove her headscarf, bills the contest as “Islam’s answer to Miss World”.

“This year we deliberately held our event just before the Miss World final to show that there are alternative role models for Muslim women,” she told AFP.

“But it’s about more than Miss World. Muslim women are increasingly working in the entertainment industry in a sexually explicit way, and they become role models, which is a concern.”

Hosted by Dewi Sandra, an Indonesian actress and pop star who recently hung up her racy dresses for a headscarf, the pageant featured both Muslim and pop music performances, including one about modesty, a trait the judges sought in the winner.

The pageant, which also featured bright Indonesian Islamic designer wear, is a starkly different way of protesting Miss World than the approach taken by Islamic radicals.
Snowballing protest movement
Thousands have taken to the streets in Indonesia in recent weeks to protest Miss World, denouncing the contest as “por*nography” and burning effigies of the organisers.

Despite a pledge by Miss World organisers to drop the famous bikini round, radical anger was not appeased and the protest movement snowballed.

The government eventually bowed to pressure and ordered the whole pageant be moved to the Hindu-majority island of Bali, where it opened on September 8.

Later rounds and the September 28 final were to be held in and around Jakarta, where there is considerable hardline influence.
But there are still fears that extremists may target the event — the US, British and Australian embassies in Jakarta have warned their nationals in recent days of the potential for radical attacks.

More than 500 contestants competed in online rounds to get to the Muslimah World final in Indonesia, one of which involved the contenders comparing stories of how they came to wear the headscarf.

The contest was first held in 2011 under a different name and was only open to Indonesians, Shanti said, but after the media began comparing it to Miss World, it was rebranded as a Muslim alternative to the world-famous pageant.

Because of its popularity, organisers accepted foreign contestants this year for the first time, with Iran, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Nigeria and Indonesia represented.

Hmm!congrat siste . I was about to comment on the contess before I saw she has been announced as the winner.Personally,I considered it to be specious with the fear hypocrites could hijack it painting Islam what It’s not known for. For sure our sistes are beautiful but it’s not to be flaunted except for their rightful ones. I wish the whole world could learn from this that nudity is not beauty.AND FOR THOSE BROTHES YOU CALLED RADICALS I DON’T THINK THEY ARE. THEY WERE ONLY TRYING TO PREVENT A DEVIATION FROM THE STANDARD BUT NOW THEY SAW HOW THE CONTESTANTS DRESSED I THINK THEY WILL APPRECIATE. EVEN IF THEY ARE STILL ADAMANT THEY ARE NOT TO BE JUGDED.

subhanaLlah!! This is pure brain wash. Bro, no matter hw dey try to paint it, waLlah! This so called event is nt islam. And if it has bn painted as such, den it is completely wrong!!! By Allah this is a mastermind to taint islam n we muslims shld stand against it. Since wen has it bcom a part of islam to showcase our women just bcos we want to show dem to d wrld dat dey r beautiful?? Wat rubbish!!! D wrld has degraded womanhood n has made dem objects of show n toys for vainful lust. Imagine someone advertising a tyre n a woman is there. Tell me of a truth. Wat correlation is dere btwn dem? Women r precious n precious things dnt get free access. Let dem name it all dey want. Beauty pagant or whatever is an insult to womanhood regardless of how they might want to paint it. Either they add muslimah, or watever to it. It is wrong and unislamic. The producers r trying to create a safe path to drive home their evil ideology to corrupt d minds of a muslim n a muslimah by making dem bliv its ok by naming it as such though with evil n faith killing agenda. I PROTEST AGAINST BEAUTY PAGANT OR THE LIKES AS IT IS A DEGRADATION AND AN INSULT TO WOMEN AND WOMANHOOD!!!!!!

Stunt , This is another stunt by the Asian muslim community to finish their job by empowering Boko Haram in Nigeria .I pity the young lady . . please tell me how many contestant come from UK, America or Europe. They want to encourage international community to be involved in the show. She will soon become another brainwashed element . If you want to do beauty peagant , you should cover your eyes , then we know you are following Mohammed laws .
NO MORE BOKO HARAM

Sometimes d way people reason never cease to amaze me!how does an internation beauty contest relate to boko haram matter, No contestants came from d countries U̶̲̥̅̊ listed because they are christian-dominated countries.Simple.Always Try to reason well and check ♈̷̴̩‎uř points before Posting.oga ooo.

If Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅ were to be a christian beauty pageants.I’m sure the likes of “dem” wont have a problem with Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅. How does an harmless beauty Pageant connect to Boko Haram? I wonder oo. Check out many other beauty Pageants like Miss Earth, Miss universe and all,Not all countries have participants.So you definitely dont have a point.Haaa…People and religion Fanatism!

@cutie, Imran , just to correct your ideas . i am not sterotyping , but the fact you guys always ashamed to address is factual truth . UK and American are muticultural and multireligious society so as Europe. Where was is advertised in Nigeria news or world news or in Saudi Arabia. How many African countries were represeted , it is a local contest in their community . If you want to find out the sponsors of this lady to the the beauty contest , it must be those that have have sponsored boko haram in the past which are not well known to you guys .
I may not be a xtian but i tell you , they do not have to do a contest to know that we are all beautiful and created in the image of God .Then what has this contest has to contribute to human society and Nigeria as a whole , rather than glorifying radicalism

If U̶̲̥̅̊ have a problem with beauty pageants as a whole,maybe i would have understood.You based ♈̷̴̩‎uř points totally on a religious view. The contests involved the testing of the participants Islamic skills among many others not just a show of beauty or Nudity lyk the rest. In What way does the contest glorify radicalism,do U̶̲̥̅̊ truly know the definition of that word.Basically,how would such a contest be Boko-haram sponsored? I mean..how would Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅ be? And lets face Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅,the fact that the So called countries are Multi-religious doesnt mean they have to embrace Islamic stuffs lyk dis.This is a very simple matter.

@ dem,really dese are ♈̷̴̩‎uř opinions and U̶̲̥̅̊ are entitled to them.but take a look @ Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅ from this angle,if Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅ were to be a christian-beauty pageant,will Saudi Arabia,iran,iraq etc have participants?Definitely No!because they are islamic countries.moreso,this stuff kicked up in 2011 and some countries just got in this year,Nigeria inclusive.So how can Ȋ̝̊τ̲̅ be sponsored by Boko-Haram.You know you are being sentimental here.U̶̲̥̅̊ asked what the point is and i ask what the harm is?And one more thing,Check the net wel wel and you will know the show isnt as unpopular as U̶̲̥̅̊ think.

But this girl is very ugly, how come! Maybe is politics…. Bcoz the person I’m looking here is just too ugly for my kind, let alone to win miss world, “was not really about competition”.
“We’re just trying to show the world that Islam is
beautiful,” she said. I will take that.

@cutie , imran. Please what has this peagant got to contribute to humanity or Nigeria as a whole . Beauty is in the eyes of beholder. Will you say that this girl has better Quaran accent than the Asian or is it her beauty that make her special ? Please , it is an international stunt just to promote radicalism and to brainwash young female muslims in Africa.